Food Dude — Dr. Frank's Gastrotorium

I am a dreamer. Always have been, always will be. While most of my dreams have been whimsical enough that they were best assigned to a short story or a fleeting bit of inner-eye-TV to pass the time, some have actually managed to be realistic – or at least, practical enough to function as legitimate business ventures.

One such idea came to me while I was relishing in one of my favourite activities; creative cooking. I was once again in my kitchen ‘dirtying dishes on delicious nonsense’, as my then girlfriend put it. It was one of those magical times of year when it was just starting to get warm enough to grill outdoors and also the start of lobster season.

I was sitting on (metaphorically, or you can imagine the state of my jeans) three racks of side pork ribs, a bulk pack of jumbo grilling wieners, three lobsters, two dozen duck eggs, home baked sub buns and a host of other delicious ingredients of varying rarity. I was loathe to let any of them spoil for lack of traditional complimentary ingredients to cook them with (not that I care about such things).

As I mentally shuffled through all the possible new food combinations I could forge from my patchwork of ingredients, it slowly diverged into a daydream about a fantastical restaurant. I imagined an eatery that employed cooks whose majority of work was to produce a fine surplus of different ingredients which could be assembled by customers themselves into free range food creations sold by weight or to create a menu item using the restaurant’s mobile app to order a personalized meal brought right to your table or doorstep.

Guests could create their own pizzas, pasta dishes, hamburgers, hotdogs, combination platters or anything they fancied in the restaurant using a wide range of familiar and exotic ingredients to exercise their creativity, customize food to their liking or for the sheer joy of trying something new. Like the infamous Dr. Frankenstein, anyone could make a unique monster, hence the restaurant’s name; Dr. Frank’s Gastrotorium. It could, I thought, be a viral cash cow… but sadly I was just a poor culinary student and didn’t want the headache of such a risky financial venture with no credit. Besides, realistically I’d have to open up shop in another province.

At any rate, I thought that the idea was worth writing down in my journal for future endeavors and went back to assembling:

Dr. Frank’s Monsterdogs

4 jumbo BBQ wieners

4 large hotdog buns

1 green onion

½ cup shredded smoky white cheddar

¼ cup lobster

1 tsp garlic butter

2 bones of pork side ribs

1 egg

1 tbsp shredded cheddar

1 slice sandwich ham

Leftover pasta

Directions

Grill wieners as desired. Grill lobsters in shell and ribs on medium heat for approximately seven minutes, flip and cook an additional seven minutes. Fry egg as desired. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lay out four buns on small baking sheet with parchment paper and add wieners. Assemble one with lobster, garlic butter and smoky cheddar; one with leftover pasta topped with smoky cheddar; one with egg and sandwich ham shreds topped with cheddar; and one with ribs slathered in BBQ sauce. Bake for approximately 15 – 20 mins or until cheese is melted. Top with diced green onion and desired condiments. Get creative!

I’ve pitched the idea to honest and trustworthy friends and colleagues about my creativity themed restaurant and it was met with more approval than I initially thought. Who knows, with the right investment opportunities and location, you could find yourself eating your own masterpiece at Dr. Frank’s sometime in the future.

Happy Creating!

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